This invention relates generally to a method of, and machinery for, manufacturing artificial shrubbery such as wreaths and artificial Christmas trees. Specifically, this invention relates to the manufacturing of branches in which individual small branch tips are attached to a rod to form a complete branch by wrapping a filament about the ends of the branch tips and the rod.
A wide variety of methods for manufacturing artificial Christmas trees are known in the art. In one such method, each branch of the tree is composed from a number of smaller branch tips which are joined to a larger branch which, in turn, is mounted to the central pole of the tree. The branch tips are generally made from plastic bristles or strips which extend from a pair of twisted wires so that the branch tip generally resembles a common bathroom brush. In turn, the branch tips are joined to a larger branch which is formed from two larger twisted wires into which the ends of the branch tips are inserted and the wires twisted to secure the branch tips. However, this type of construction suffers from a number of drawbacks. The twisted wire main branch is easily visible and thus it is apparent that the tree is artificial. Furthermore, in this type of construction, the rearward end of each branch tip extends out of the main branch forming a sharp point which is both unsightly and potentially dangerous.
In order to overcome the difficulties of the twisted wire construction for the main branch, a wrapped construction has been used. In the wrapped construction, the main branch, rather than being twisted wire, is a solid rod and the individual branch tips are attached to the rod by having their ends brought in proximity to the rod and then wrapping a filament around the ends to secure the branch tips. The filament is then continuously wrapped around the rod securing the branches at various predetermined points. The many turns of filament wrapped around the rod provides a central branch which appears thicker and thus more natural. Furthermore, the filament may be colored green and brown which covers and hides the metal rod and thus the branch has a more natural appearance.
However, the present methods for manufacturing artificial branches through the wrapping process have also suffered from a number of difficulties. In this method, a straight rod is cut to a predetermined length and marked at various places along its length to indicate to the operator where the branch tips are to be attached. The operator then places the rod in a wrapping machine having a rotating hollow tube which carries about its periphery the filament used for wrapping. The operator places the marked rod in the tube and wraps the tube with filament by manually pulling the rod through the tube until the mark is reached. The rotation of the machine is halted and the individual branch tips attached by the operator. The machine is then restarted and filament wrapped about the tips and rod until the next wrapping point at which point the process is repeated until the branch is complete. Obviously, this procedure requires a relatively large amount of time and many manual operations. Furthermore, the manual wrapping process is wasteful of the wrapping filament. Finallly, pre-cut straight rod is considerably more expensive per foot than the same diameter rod cut and straightened from a large coil of wire.
The present invention is directed towards a method and machine for carrying out an automatic procedure for producing wrapped Christmas tree branches.